


Patterns and Art

by ladyarcherfan3



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, Poe as a meme, Poe is popular, some mild innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-27 21:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10817328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyarcherfan3/pseuds/ladyarcherfan3
Summary: Leia has been dealing with rebel forces for a long time.  She's noticed that there are patterns to events and habits.  Now Poe is at the center of one of those patterns.  It is a dubious honor.





	Patterns and Art

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by [this tumblr post](http://lafseanchai.tumblr.com/post/159763995834/egregiousderp-moghedien-of-course-this). The idea was very entertaining, and this fic happened. 
> 
> Many thanks to glorious_clio for her excellent beta help, as always. 
> 
> Also, Happy May the Fourth!

Leia didn’t think history repeated itself, but she did believe that there were patterns. It would have been hard to ignore, with how she had once again gone from a seat of political influence to a general in the Resistance. Or that the First Order had all the same basic trappings of the Empire, from a policy of hate and destruction, to Stormtroopers, to a masked man clad in black. She was often torn between tears and laughing, because having her son turn to the Dark Side hurt like nothing else ever had. But at the same time, there were moments - when she argued tactics with other commanders, or debriefed soldiers and spies - with her muscles and bones aching that she wanted to laugh. She had been doing this job a long time, and the only thing that seemed to change was the faces and the names, and how much her joints ached with each passing day. And laughter - no matter if it was bitter and often silent - at least helped keep her sane. 

But there were some generally hilarious patterns that repeated as well. 

“You’ve seen this, right?” Doctor Harter Kalonia asked one day, handing Leia a datapad.

Expecting another report of shortages in medical supplies, Leia stood for a moment blinking down at the image on the screen. 

Captioned with the words, “Watching Over the Skies and Stars”, it showed a skyscape with X-wings bursting out of clouds and stars blazing bright out of dark blue. And in the middle of it all, looking into the middle distance, was Black Leader Poe Dameron. 

Leia chuckled. “Oh, so _that’s_ starting up with this bunch.” 

“What is?” Doctor Kalonia hadn’t been part of the Rebellion, though many of the younger people in the Resistance assumed she had been, because of her age and her general steadiness under fire. She had joined the Resistance because she recognized the evil in the First Order and was willing and now able to do her part to stop it. As a result, she was still learning the habits and stories of the older Rebels. 

“The creation of a poster boy. Or girl. Or whoever,” Leia replied. “There’s always at least one. X-Wing pilots are the most popular. Luke was one, though he had competiton.” 

Doctor Kolonia raised her eyebrows, interested but not outwardly surprised, as usual. “Oh?”

“Yes. And if it hadn’t been so cold on Hoth, I am sure there would have been portraits on X-Wing noses and whatnot - we had some genuine artists with us. But they did do something like trading cards - Luke, Han, and Wedge.” Leia chuckled again. “And Chewie.” 

“This Poe thing is all over the holonet apparently,” Doctor Kalonia said.

Leia shrugged and handed back the datapad. “It isn’t going to hurt anything, and we might as well let everyone have the laugh. There’s not enough of that.”

“Should I send you a copy to your ‘pad?”

“Please.” 

The exceptional image was created by Yolo Ziff - who was a young medic that had been working as a digital artist before he joined the Resistance. Once he showed the poster to one person, it spread around the base like wildfire. And from there, it went onto the Holonet, and even if he had wanted to, he couldn’t have called it back. 

Despite being the subject of the art, Poe was the last person on the base to find out about it. He had been on a solo mission and hadn’t had time for any communication outside of official reports. As soon as he got back on base, though, he noticed there was a different atmosphere. Along with the usual greetings and round of questions from the mechanics, and instructions of when to meet General Organa for debriefing, there were a number of mocking salutes, and the suggestive winks, and the long slow up and down glances towards him were far more numerous than before. He ignored it all as best he could, and hurried to the mess hall, desperate for any food and as as much caf as he could down before meeting with General Organa. He didn’t bother to change out of his flight suit, and still had his helmet tucked under his arm. BB-8 rolled along with him, burbling happily about being back on base. 

He had just managed to grab a plate of food and a cup of lukewarm caf when heard Jessika Pava’s voice cut through the hum of the mess hall. 

“Hey, Black Leader! How did watching over the skies and stars go for you this time?

“What?” 

Jessika tried and failed to hold back back laughter. “Oh, mighty protector! We are forever indebted to you!” She gave into her laughter and bent forward, clutching her stomach. 

Poe staggered a little bit as BB-8 nudged into his legs, whistling in concern. There was a smattering of laughter growing, and more people had turned to watch as Jessika’s voice had risen. 

“Jess… What are you… What?”

She straightened, one arm still around her middle. “Sorry, but that stupid poster was so funny, and you came back looking like that…” She waved a hand at him and nearly collapsed into giggles again.

What poster?” He rocked again as BB-8 ran into him with more intensity, beeping out worried little phrases. “No, buddy, I’m fine. Just confused. _What_ poster, Jess?”

Her hands flew up to her mouth, and most of the mirth died away. “Oh, kriff. You haven’t seen it yet?” She turned and called, “Tira, you got your datapad on you?”

Poe took the ‘pad that Tira handed him - her own face contorting with a suppressed grin - and stared at the image. “Okay, then.”

*

The door to Yolo Ziff’s quarters burst open a nanosecond after Poe’s voice boomed, “Ziff! What is this?” He lifted the datapad and the poster glowed bright on the screen. 

Ziff jumped up and pressed himself against the opposite wall, as if Poe had charged into the room much harder and faster than he actually had. “Oh, kriff. I didn’t mean for it to take off the way it did… it’s just a joke.”

Poe looked between the holopad and Ziff - who was frozen and wide eyed - and then burst into laughter. “Oh, I’m not mad, Ziff! I’m exhausted and going to be late for a debrief, but I wanted to know the story behind this. Where did you get the idea?”

“Well, you must have heard all the jokes about you being used to help recruit because of your…” Ziff gestured to Poe as a whole, “and your crack piloting skills… so I made that poster, and it ended up going viral on the ‘net.”

“Wait, this is all over, not just on base?”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

Poe clapped Ziff on the shoulder. “Nothing you can do now. Except hope that it will actually help with recruiting.” 

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be?”

“I used a picture of you and didn’t ask, though Jessika gave it to me. It was a shot she had stored on that data bank that the pilots have on the BaseNet.”

Poe nodded. “That’s fine. Jess and everyone else knows those shots and holos and everything else on there are for us to send back to families and friends in case we don’t make it back from a mission. I don’t remember her talking that shot, but I gave her basically blanket approval to share as she saw fit.” He looked back at the poster and shook his head. “Not what I had in mind, to be honest. But I can’t believe you came up with this. It’s good! And I am going to have to talk to Jess again - that shot looks good enough to be posed, but I don't remember posing...” His comm beeped. “Told you, I was late. Gotta go. Take care, Ziff!”

Ziff sagged and collapsed onto his bunk in relief. He glanced at his artpad, where he was rendering another poster, this time with General Organa and a list of possible phrases to go with it on the side. He looked for a moment, chewed his lip, and grabbed the ‘pad and stylus. Maybe he’d only print out a few copies instead of uploading it to the ‘net. Or maybe no. The galaxy deserved to see good art, and to know how terrifying General Organa was… so maybe he’d actually show the general before sharing anywhere to make sure he wouldn’t get into trouble with her. 

Poe arrived General Organa’s office feeling a little light headed and still hungry. He’d slammed down the caf before finding Ziff, but now his body was telling him it was a while since he’d had anything to eat. So when he entered and came face to face with the poster again, he could only stare. It was up on the screen of the general’s datapad, which had been propped up to face to door. He wasn’t sure if she was going to berate him or laugh at him for it. 

“Dameron? Are you okay?”

He blinked and snapped to attention. “Apologies, General. I shouldn’t have let my attention waver.” 

“Oh, sit down, Dameron. We’re all only human here. I’m going to guess you haven’t had anything to eat because you forgot to even choke down a meal bar in your X-wing, am I right?” She tossed him a protein bar from her desk drawer as he sat. “But I won’t have anyone keeling over in my office during a debriefing. So eat that now.” 

As he chewed, she pointed to her datapad. “And before we get into the fine details, I want to ask you about this.”

Poe stopped just short of cramming the rest of the bar in his mouth. “Oh, I talked to Ziff, and I’m fine with it. I mean, he caught my good side.” He winked. 

“Even if it’s all over the ‘net and has already been used by our recruitment team?”

“How long has it been up?” he asked in surprise.

“A couple days at least. I just saw it yesterday.” 

He shrugged and grinned. “Nothing I can do about it now, right? And at least the artwork might be useful to the Resistance.” 

“And to your own popularity,” the General grinned at him. “The artwork that is drawing people in isn’t Ziff’s creation.” 

“What can I say? Ace pilot, all around awesome guy, right?”

“Yes, clearly,” she said, deadpan. “You’re confident, charismatic, and good looking, Dameron. That picture Ziff chose got all of that. Good for us and our recruiting and morale. Also good for you and your time off, I’m sure.” She tossed him another energy bar. “You might need it, to keep your strength with the influx of admirers you have gained. That poster has generated a lot of talk about you and your… assets.” 

Poe couldn’t even get words out, just a mortified, strangled sound. 

Leia smiled, wry and with a hint of mischief. “Do what you want on your free time, is all I am saying. Too bad Luke isn’t here - for a myriad of reasons. But he’d be able to give you pointers about keeping your hoards admirers at bay, while still being lovable.” 

Poe dropped his face into his hands. Of all the things he expected General Organa to bring up about the poster, any discussion of his sex life hadn’t been on the list. He managed to rally after a minute and say, “Can we just get to the debriefing?”

“You might be a bit young for me, Dameron.”

“What? No, no no no-”

She cut him off with a wave of her hand and another grin. “Apologies. I shouldn’t make jokes at your expense. Now, down to actual business.”

*

Months later, Poe walked into Finn’s room, balancing a tray of food. Finn’s back was healing well, though sometimes he would push himself too hard too early in the day and be forced to rest for several hours. If it happened around a mealtime, Poe would volunteer to bring food back for him so he didn’t have to deal with standing in line at the mess. 

“Brought you some lunch, buddy,” he said, dodging BB-8, who sped into the room to beep at Finn; he was the driod’s second favorite human and Finn had to face binary scoldings as well as admonishments from Doctor Kalonia when he pushed himself too far. 

Finn didn’t respond to either Poe or BB-8 for a long moment, eyes fixed on his datapad. 

“Poe… what the kriff is this?” 

Poe just groaned as the poster came into view again.


End file.
